Carry Your Cross and Embrace New Life

 

Spring Flowers/ Kew Gardens, London/ Geoff Sutton 2016

It's Easter weekend in 2021. I haven’t gone to church in a year due to COVID-19 but I read and hear Christians preaching on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t see much about denial and cross-bearing. 

Christ carrying the cross/ El Greco/ c1541-1614

I wonder what the text means-- deny yourself and take up your cross. Here’s the Authorised Version.

24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16).

It’s a common text for Christians who have been in church for years. I don’t remember it being emphasized in churches I attended as a boy or in evangelical circles. I take it, it isn’t too popular with certain groups of Christians.

It’s all a bit morbid isn’t it? All this talk about death and dying. Especially when it’s Springtime in the northern hemisphere and Easter is ‘round the corner bringing chocolate eggs, bunnies, and fun toys for the health-conscious. It used to be a time of sumptuous buffets following an early Easter service or a mega-meal with families.

Denial- what’s that?

I was complaining about something once when a colleague advised me I’d win more support with honey. Crosses should be sugar-coated and covered in chocolate. Then you could have your cross and eat it too. Bearing such a cross would be sweet and easy-peasy.

We don't do denial very well here in the US or in other wealthy nations.

Literal Crosses

There are some Christians who read the biblical texts in a near literal fashion. Perhaps you have seen the pictures of men carrying wooden crosses and having bloody backs? I’m pretty sure Jesus wasn’t advising that sort of thing. Let's think about metaphors.

Cross as Metaphor

I recall reading this text years ago and noticing that it’s placed well before Jesus took up his cross (Chapter 16). How would the disciples know what he was talking about? Perhaps Matthew, or which ever ancient writer wrote the document decades after Jesus died, was inspired to put this denial message here for a reason. I don't know. But it's odd to talk about carrying a cross before he did.

Anyway, surely it is clear that Jesus is using cross-bearing as a metaphor. Most of us have burdens to bear. Some of us have serious health problems. Some have horrible childhoods. Some have horrible relationships.

We’re encouraged to follow the Jesus' path. Here and there we learn about bearing other’s burdens. That must be a metaphor for caring about people having a hard time. And if we do that sort of thing, lose a bit of our own life, we will actually find life—at least a life worth living.

Healing Stripes as Metaphor

I have heard a lot about healing stripes. What’s that? Well, there’s an ancient line in the Bible that says: “By his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah said it first (53:5). Then Pete said it (1 Peter 2:24). Then healing evangelists told lots of people so some Christians came to believe that God wants them to be healed and if only they had enough faith they would be healed. And it came to pass that some were healed and lots of faith healers became very very wealthy.

Now these stripes go with the later cross-bearing story. That’s the literal story of Jesus carrying his wooden cross after he was beaten with whips—hence the bloody stripes on his back. This happened on Good Friday, which obviously wasn’t good if you were the one being beaten and nailed up on an old rugged wooden cross. If he’d lived long enough, no doubt those wounds would have been very ugly scars.

Anyone who has lived a few decades knows people suffer from all sorts of things. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are a Christian, an atheist, or a follower of another religious tradition. Humans have a lot to deal with. 

And we shouldn’t get too far from literal thinking that we forget, some people have literal scars on their bodies along with the psychological scars. And for those hurt by spiritual leaders, they have spiritual scars too.

Post-Traumatic Growth

So, like the cross, the stripes, and healing too, must be metaphors. I’m a psychologist so I’m thinking about post-traumatic growth. That is, for those who have been abused—especially by people in authority—there is healing. At least for some, following Jesus through pain and anguish does lead to a new life. It can surely seem like the pain will never end but there is an Easter. A new life is possible. Easter becomes a metaphor too--a new beginning, a new life,

Censorship

I can understand why adults wouldn’t want their children to read the pre-Easter story. It contains violence and ultimately the death of a young man at the hand of the government in cahoots with religious leaders. Maybe that's why we focus on Easter bunnies and eggs and hunting for treasures. It's best to focus on life and teach them about pain and death later. But then again, some children have a hell of a life so maybe they need the whole story.

I looked up the verses in the International Children’s Bible—it’s still a grim picture.

24 Then Jesus said to his followers, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. He must be willing even to die on a cross, and he must follow me. 25 Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. And whoever gives up his life for me will have true life. 26 It is worth nothing for a man to have the whole world if he loses his soul. He could never pay enough to buy back his soul.

General thought-- it's much nicer to focus on triumph than to consider pain and suffering.

Applications

In the run up to Easter 2021, I read all kinds of things showing how Christians work out this whole denial, taking up crosses, and following Jesus thing.

I started to list all the expressions of outrage I saw. Then I got discouraged so I deleted the whole list.

I think most Christians I know really want a muscular, gun-toting, swashbuckling, 10-foot tall, giant of a man who will stand up to authorities and express passionate outrage in accordance with their values. All that wimpy talk about forgiveness, love, and grace is no way to run a country.

From various posts

The long-haired, take-a-beating, bent-over, cross-bearing, young Jewish Jesus fella from 2,000 years ago saying his nation isn’t like those on earth doesn’t quite relate to life in this century—or does it?

Lots to Learn

Whatever the Easter story is about, it’s hard to focus on it if I read too much news or posts about this or that outrage. Somethings are outrageous but nationalists -- zealots for Israel-- get short-shrift in the gospels (Matthew 11:12)—I think there is a reason for that.

I think I’d like to focus more on helping ease other people’s burdens. And, although I’m old (got my three-score years + 10 and a bit (Psalm 90:10), I’d still like to grow some more. I think there is something about caring for another that’s life-giving for them and me.

I’m not for ditching law and order, nor do I believe you can run a nation without police or a strong military. I’m just not sure how all this love, denial, and so forth works out with the outrage and hate I see.

I think the Bible would have made more sense if I took my school lessons about similes, metaphors, and hyperboles and applied them to understanding the biblical texts. I think I get it now. I wonder how many young people would still be Christians if they weren't taught to read the Bible in such literal life-draining ways.

Crosses, stripes, healing, and even Easter itself become powerful life-supporting, and life-giving metaphors for ways to deal with personal pain, help others with their pain, carry on through adversity, sustain hope for tomorrow, and grow as a person.

So, how should we live? 

How should we post? 

How should we tweet? 

How should we spend our time?

Whatever time of year you read this post, I wish you a new, life-giving Happy Easter, with a fresh start.